Electromobility Summit in Berlin

At the "Electromobility Summit" held in Berlin emphasis was placed on the importance of standardization for achieving the German government's ambitious goals

High-level participants from German industry, research and politics met on 3 May 2010 to discuss ways of achieving the Federal Government's declared goals of becoming an international leader in the electrification of power trains and bringing one million electric vehicles to Germany's roads by 2020.

During the nearly two-hour summit Chancellor Angela Merkel and around 30 leaders from the automotive and energy sectors discussed topics central to electromobility, one of which was introduced by DIN's Director Dr. Torsten Bahke in his presentation on the significance of standardization for industry success. Bahke stressed the necessity of an integrated, systematic approach to this new technology, which will require intensive cross-industry and cross-technology collaboration.

This relatively new form of collaboration should not be restricted to the national level. In order to address broad issues such as infrastructure, the need for standard interfaces, and protecting the interests of export-oriented countries such as Germany, the cutting-edge technologies developed must be incorporated into international standardization. This will ensure access to global markets while at the same time keeping added-value and jobs in Germany.

The development of needs-oriented, open solutions in the form of standards and specifications is therefore essential for reaching the German government's defined goals. This is acknowledged by Federal Minister of Economics and Technology Rainer Brüderle in his press release on the summit in which he stresses the importance of standards for economic success.

The summit was immediately followed by the constituent meeting of the "National Platform for Electro-Mobility" attended by Chancellor Merkel and other government representatives. Seven working groups were formed in the presence of more than 300 guests. The main task of these groups will be to come up with concrete proposals for implementing the National Electro-Mobility Development Plan and to help Germany become an international leader in this sector. One of the working groups – which includes Dietmar Harting, former DIN President – will address the topic "Standardization and Certification". It is expected that the seven working groups will present results and recommendations for action by the end of the year, which will serve as the basis for introducing further measures.

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